EHR Association Makes NwHIN Comments

The Chicago-based Electronic Health Record (EHR) Association, a collaboration of 41 electronic health records suppliers, has submitted its response to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) Request for Information (RFI) Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN): Conditions for Trusted Exchange.

"The ONC request for information provided a good framework to begin this process as we work to move the NwHIN forward as a foundational component of the national health IT infrastructure," Leigh Burchell, vice president of Government Affairs for the Chicago-based Allscripts and chair of the Association’s Public Policy Leadership Workgroup, said in a statement. “We’re supportive of ONC’s clear direction that participation in the NwHIN would be on a voluntary basis, and are strongly recommending that the governance model be based on public/private sector collaboration.”

The Association provided specific recommendations regarding conditions for trusted exchange (CTEs), suggesting that the initial rules should focus on the governance model rather than the initial set of CTEs and their maintenance which should be the result of a governance framework, not the framework itself. In addition, the EHR association requested a clearer definition of network validated entity (NVE). They say the RFI includes some examples of organizations that may want to become NVEs, but there are few references to the parties among whom the NVE is facilitating information exchange.

"We see this RFI and the opportunity to provide input to this important strategy as another example of the transparency with which ONC has strived to operate since its inception. We look forward to the opportunity to bring our expertise, and the perspectives of our clients, to bear on the direction of this initiative,” Burchell said.

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